5wk old grunting +++++, thinking of putting in own room so mum and dad can get some sleep!!

[crackpotdog]

Any thoughts?

guess you know it's not recommended, but if you really feel you must, leave all the doors open and use the baby alarm on the other way round with vol right up so she can hear you breathing.

I did this after waking up one morning after waking up on the sofa downstairs and finding DH on the bed in the room that DS was supposed to go into when he was 6 months. My DS was around the same age I think, 5 weeks.

Wasn't happy about doing it but we did anyway. I had a breathing/movement monitor thing which we had had for DD on a replacement given when the original broke down. So I used that. I guess it is no substitute for them being in your room but it did help me have a tiny little bit more peace of mind about it.

Newborns make a lot of noise and you get used to it. Far better than them making none IYSWIM.

I would never advise putting a baby under 6 months in its own room. I just don't believe it's worth the risk or anxiety. I know that people do, but I think they're fools personally.

my ds1 started sleeping 12hours at 7weeks old but was a really noisy sleeper, grunting and shuffling all night which kept me and dh up turning us into complete zombies so we moved him into his own room, personally if your happy to move your dc i dont see why you shouldn't, i'm sure happy refreshed parents are better than tired, stroppy ones even if it is at the cost of ignoring guidelines! hth

Agree 100 % with twig

my DS made a lot of noise for the first couple of months and then the volume went right down. By 3 months he was a completely silent sleeper. So if you can stick it, it probably won't be a problem for long.

DS2 was a really noisey sleeper and I soon got used to it, infact so much so that when we moved him to his own room at 7 months I struggled without him.

I wouldnt move him myself, as the guildlines are there for a reason and my cousin lost a baby girl to cotdeath so I understand and have experianced some of the pain.

I'm with Olliesmummy on this one. We had similar problems with ds and dd. They were both in their own rooms fairly early on because they were so noisy. I felt it was better to do that with monitors on, than have to put earplugs in and hear even less.

but tiggerish, it's not to do with you hearing THEM, it's them hearing YOU, iyswim. The purpose of keeping them in your room isn't to do with you hearing every sound they make, it's supposed to be something to do with the parents' presence preventing the baby slipping into a too-deep sleep.

A baby monitor doesn't solve that.

Sorry - I'm not trying to criticise other people's decisions, but crackpotdog needs to have the facts.

I'll confess that I never got used to the noise of the baby sleeping in the same room - I'm a very light sleeper I think, but also somewhat paranoid and used to wake at every snort and snuffle and then lie there for hours trying to go back to sleep. Absolutely shattering.

This may sound terrible, but I actually used ear-plugs. You will STILL hear any kind of cry from the baby, which in my case was enough to wake me instantly, but it just drowns out the non-stop snuffle, snort, breathing sounds to a gentle background noise. Plus the baby still gets the benefit of being in the same room as you. And I didn't use them all the time, just when desperate and starting not to function due to total exhaustion. And my partner didn't use them. Maybe you could take turns.

This was the beginning of the deline of my sex-life in that dd was so noisy I could never sleep so I moved out of the main bedroom leaving her cot with DH. We've never managed to sleep together since as got used to being apart. That's only 7+ years then...

theyoungvisitor - that's what I'd heard too - that it's the baby hearing you that is supposed to be important. That helped me defend my occasional ear-plug use to myself. But feel free to set me straight here!

ds 1 went into his room at 5 weeks ish, ds 2 around 3.
A friend's lo was day/night number 2 as her husband was a horse trainer and he was up at 4am.

oo I wouldn't dare set anyone straight - I'm not an expert! But I did research it off the tinternet when we had DS and that was what I gathered. I read theories varying from parental noise to (possibly) exhaled carbon dioxide - but they all seemed to agree it is the parent's physical presence that is important - not whether you can hear the baby or not.

So you are probably fine with your earplugs!

Thanks theyoungv, somehow I always feel really guilty when I 'fess up to my earplug antics , something to do with 'stoppering out sounds from your baby' sounds really bad. But it doesn't filter out all sounds, just makes them more of a background buzz. And it did make it bearable for me to have both my dds in our room till the 6 month mark. Am currently expecting another, so might have to dust the old ear plugs off again in 7 months!

have u thought of raising the head part of the mattress up a little? is he chesty in the day ? mayb worth a try putting a pillow underneath the top part to tilt it like they do in hospital?

Another closet earplug user here .

thanks for all your thoughts and advise. i have been using earplugs since day 1!!! still get awoken by ds though!! had moved crib to his room yesterday but moved it back last night and actually had not a bad nights sleep last night!! we'll see if it was a one-off!!